All-access Trip Inside Lottery Simply Magical

NBA CONFIDENTIAL

The Magic not only overcame lottery history to win the No. 1 pick, but they overcame an omen from their own history.

They beat the ghost of Ben Wallace, who got away from the Magic and became a star.

First, let me explain that I was among a handful of writers invited by the NBA to witness the super-secret procedure last Wednesday.

The league started doing this recently, I guess, to assure you that its lottery was not rigged, although conspiracy theorists still believe something was fishy when the New York Knicks drew Patrick Ewing in the debut of the lottery in 1985.

The site of this lottery was the NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus, N.J. About 21/2 hours before the winner was announced, we were taken to the third floor of the building, joining league officials, lawyers, accountants and team brass.

We knew the results long before they were shown in a televised game-show version of the lottery.

We all were held in the room of flying pingpong balls until the telecast ended.

League security officials all but frisked us. Cell phones and pagers were confiscated. We could get a head start writing our stories but weren't allowed to transmit, and computers were double-checked for wireless modems.

No one was allowed to relay the results or call the newspaper, mom or Vegas.

Need to go to the bathroom? Security will escort you.

NBA officials were surprisingly lighthearted, cracking some jokes as the drawing began. They outlined "disaster scenarios" if the machinery malfunctioned. If the electricity went out, they manually would draw numbers out of a hole cut in the middle of a basketball.

The atmosphere grew tense as they loaded the lottery machine and the pingpong balls popped to the top to determine the four-ball combinations assigned to teams.

For only the second time since 1990, the system worked for the team with the worst record.

Amazingly, the Magic, who had a 25 percent chance to win the lottery, saw their numbers appear again for the No. 2 pick, forcing officials to re-draw. Orlando's numbers this time: 11-4-9-13.

Making it even spookier was the bad omen that the Magic overcame.

The room was adorned with portraits of current NBA stars. And wouldn't you know it, hanging directly above the lottery machine, staring down on the fate of Orlando's pingpong balls, was . . . Ben Wallace.

HOME-TEAM UPDATES

A li'l bird says if the Magic want to help keep Tracy McGrady, they should offer New Orleans a second-round pick for the return of Darrell Armstrong. . . . McGrady withdrew from the Summer Olympics but not because he's getting married, as Larry Brown suggested. T-Mac: "My girl called me and said, `What's this? I didn't know we were getting married.' " . . .

Golf can be maddening. Magic forward Grant Hill has taken up the game and played in former Duke teammate Andrew Lang's tournament last week. Hill, who has showed incredible patience dealing with his ankle injury the past four years, walked off after seven frustrating holes. . . .

Magic General Manager John Weisbrod has circled June 17 on his calendar, the deadline for early-entrant candidates to withdraw. Weisbrod hopes high schoolers and foreign players stay in the draft, pushing down some talent and giving the Magic a chance to grab a player with the 30th pick (or deal it).

Okafor, who could be picked No. 1 by the Magic, also says he didn't watch the lottery but "heard it through the phone. My agent [Jeff Schwartz] was giving me the play-by-play."

Okafor said he won't attend the June 8-11 pre-draft camp in Chicago until the last day or next-to-last day.

TALK THE TALK

Regarding Atlanta prep phenom Dwight Howard, Atlanta Hawks GM Billy Knight tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "We would not go after him because he's a hometown kid. We wouldn't care if he was from Senegal or California or Alaska." . . .

Sacramento Kings co-owner Joe Maloof says some guy he met at a bar mitzvah gave him advice: "He says, `Be careful. Don't do drastic things. This is still one of the top teams in the NBA,' " Maloof told the Sacramento Bee. The guy? John Madden. . . .

Toronto star Vince Carter has pushed former Magic VP Julius Erving for the GM job, although many feel that Michelle Carter, Vince's mom, has been filling that role for years. "My mom just said, `Hey, here's Dr. J's number. Give him a call.' I was like, `Who? Yeah, sounds good to me,' " Carter told the Toronto Sun.

POT OF SHOTS

The Los Angeles Clippers have been calling the Magic to see if they can trade up for Pat Williams. . . . The NBA expansion draft for the Charlotte Bobcats is June 22. The Magic are still trying to come up with eight players worth protecting. . . . Coach Terry Stotts obviously was fired by Atlanta for winning too much. Had the Hawks lost one more time, they would not have tied the Los Angeles Clippers at 28-54. Atlanta lost a coin flip with L.A. for the fourth-most lottery balls -- and a possible drawing card. The Clips won the No. 2 pick and probably can take Howard. . . .